Oh boy, where do we even start? The Nevada State Athletic Commission threw a curveball recently. They said a big fat “nope” to a six-month timeout for Igor da Silva. Why? Because he decided to take a chomp out of Andre Lima during a UFC fight. Yeah, you heard that right.
Now, this wasn’t just any fight. It was UFC on ESPN 53, March 23. Picture it. The tension, the sweat, the…teeth?
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So, there’s this meeting, right? On a Tuesday, Nevada’s own deputy attorney general, Matthew Feeley, throws out this idea. “Let’s slap Igor with a six-month suspension and maybe fine him over $3,000.” His thought process? Well, it’s kinda uncharted territory. Except, remember Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield? Yeah, that ear incident. But hey, Tyson got hit with a $3 million fine and a goodbye kiss to his license. Igor’s bite? Not quite on that level, Feeley reckons.
But wait, there’s more. Anthony Marnell, one of the NSAC commissioners, isn’t having any of it. He’s worried, you see. What kind of message does a measly six-month suspension send? What if someone else gets a taste for… well, tasting their opponent? “That’s unbelievably dangerous for this commission,” he says. And, I mean, he’s not wrong.
So, what’s next for our friend Igor? He’s chilling on the bench with a temporary suspension, but come May 31, it’s round two for him at another disciplinary hearing. The word on the street is they might bench him for a year, but who knows?
And here’s the kicker – the UFC gave Igor the boot. That bite at 2:52 in Round 2? Left a mark on Lima and on Igor’s career. The dude was on a hot streak, too. Eight wins straight out of the gate, and he snagged a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series just last September. Talk about a fall from grace, huh?